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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



014 083 220 



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PAPER TOYS 



AND 



How To Make Them 



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(Second Edition) 
BY 

FRITZ KOCH 



Illustrated 



Published by 
KOCH PAPER. TOY COMPANY. 

1239 Spring Garden Street, Phila., Pa. 



Y 



^.lOtiAHYof CONGRESS 
I wo CoDies Received 

OCT 24 I90r 

Copyneht Entry 

CUSS/f XXc, No. 

^ ^<) ^ ^f7 

COPY B. 



Copyright by Fritz Kcch, 1907. All rights reserved. 



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PAPER TOYS 
And How to Make Them. 



INTRODUCTION. 

The ability to retain a clear mental impression of a'ny 
known object or to create new forms is of inestimable value. 
Most children have a natural and healthy tendency to receive 
and hold new impressions, but inefficient training generally 
neglects this faculty. An all-round education dei,Tiands ample 
opportunity in school and house for creating plastic forms. 
The mere accumulation of abstract facts is an education 
decidedly insvifficient. 

Recognizing the important fact that children naturally 
like to make things, "plastic expression" is being advocated 
by many teachers and school authorities. But fortunately not 
everywhere have such occupations been introduced solely for 
"learning" purposes in the old sense of the word. There is 
a growing faith in the theory that children should not only 
be usefully but also happily employed. In fact, the educa- 
tional value of an occupation depends largely on the joy-stim- 
ulating propensities it contains. The most capable teacher can 
create scarcely more than an artificial interest for certain sub- 
jects taught in the schools to-day. The joy-element can, how- 
ever, on the other hand, be suppressed even in the most fasci- 
nating occupation if too great an emphasis is laid on its so- 
called "educational value ;" this is so, for instance, when chil- 
dren are allowed to work only according to set rules. 

We certainly should allow children to make use of and 
profit by the accumulated knowledge of past generations, but, 



nevertheless, ability to do resulting from personal experiments 
is at least as important as the knowledge acquired while 
working according to dogmatic directions. 

Children must be allowed to feel that for themselves, 
just as for adults, there exist certain free occupations, by- 
means of which they can express their own individual inclin- 
ations. 

Education is making such headway, that to-day even some 
of the most rigid advocates of a "blue-spectacled" pedagogy 
are beginning to concede that children wish not only to learn 
but to live while learning. With many children life really 
commences after school is out. However, since it has been 
proven of late years that children learn best while truly 
living and that manual training is a most fascinating as well 
as a most important part of education, many excellent men 
and women are striving to so readjust school plans that work 
in sand, clay, wood and paper are being introduced. 

The selection of a life's work best adapted to personal 
inclinations depends very much upon the development of the 
ability to choose. Our generation demands that children 
be granted more freedom in the choice of those subjects with 
which they are daily employed. The children of the future 
will live before they appear, diploma in hand, on the threshold 
of life. All their doings are no longer to be looked upon as 
merely a preparation for adult life, but they shall come to know 
that every moment of happy childhood is a precious part of their 
wonderful existence. Just as adults gain a great part of their 
knowledge through practical life, so children should be per- 
mitted to enlarge their views through personal experiments 
while following occupations adapted to their natural bent. 

As the term education grows to be applied to a larger 
range of subjects, manual training will also gradually be as- 
signed that place in school and house which it deserves. 

Manual training includes paper construction, which has 
many excellent advantages besides being remarkably cheap. 
The origin, development and possibilities of those paper forms 
with which I have particularly concerned myself are to be 
described in this pamphlet. 

4 



I. ORIGIN OF THE NEW PAPER FORMS. 

When we were children, my sister and I built castles, 
mills, houses and barns out of the printed "form papers" of 
those times. The colors in which those designs were printed, 
as well as the paper, were both very poor, but we were glad 
to have something of that kind to do, and the working with 
them undoubtedly led us to invent the many little models of 
furniture and other objects with which we amused ourselves 
on rainy days. 

Later, when we had a school, we thought of our early ex- 
periments and induced the children in our charge to work 
out similar designs. During the summer of 1902 I introduced 
into the New York vacation schools certain paper forms, 
which may be considered forerunners of the present series. 

Thereafter a number of my inventions appeared in the 
New York Herald and other papers as "cut-outs." But these 
had to be pasted on cardboard, which was a great disadvan- 
tage. 

Later, I went to Europe and there concerned myself for 
some time with the idea of manufacturing stamped-out paper 
forms, which the children would merely have to bend into 
shape and paste in certain few places. But, after a consul- 
tation with the eminent educator. Dr. George Kerschensteiner, 
of Munich, I decided to merely print the forms and have the 
children do the cutting-out. They have in this way a greater 
right to claim the finished product as a result of their own 
efforts. 

It will be seen by this short sketch of the origin of these 
forms that they have gradually been evolved out of practical 
life — that they are not purely theoretical experiments. 



II. QUALITIES AND ADVANTAGES OF THE NEW 
PAPER FORMS. 

1. To anyone who sees for the first time a group of these 
paper toys it seems almost incredible that each object is con- 
structed out of a single flat piece of paper. Only after a 
thorough examination is the beholder convinced that it really 
is true. Combining all sections into one piece simplifies the 
difificulties of construction very much, particularly for begin- 
ners. 

2. If a sheet of paper is placed before the lamp as a 
shade, it curls up and falls over. If, however, this same sheet 



is creased and set up like a half-open book it will keep its 
place and the problem is solved. By making frequent use of 
this "angle-strength" these paper forms are throughout pecu- 
liarly reinforced and able to resist outer attacks. 

We find this angle-strength utilized in the construction 
of steel-beams, in rails and perhaps also in the fluted classical 
pillars, as well as in all material that is corrugated. 

Should any of these objects drop from the table to the 
floor or even from a greater height they will not be seriously 
damaged, as the elasticity and lightness of the paper and the 
many well-jointed angles provide the necessary safeguard. 

After having constructed them, children can play with 
these toys for a considerable time, and if any piece should 
accidentally be destroyed, it can be replaced by a new one, 
the replenishment furnishing pleasure more than sufficient to 
counteract the disappointment of loss. As an additional means 
of strengthening these objects double strips are used, which in 
many objects produce a more natural effect, as in the roof on 
the dog house and on the table-top, where the overlapping 
of the edges is secured. These double strips also prevent 
warping of the objects. All pasting strips ansAver the same 
purpose and are therefore made reasonably wide. 

3. The elasticity and flexibility of the material are quali- 
ties to be taken advantage of in paper construction. They 
give the canoe its fine shape and can be found in the Gothic 
chair, the sled and other objects. 

4. In selecting a model for an object or toy, care should 
be taken to adopt that which is mechanically and artistically 
correct ; and it is upon this principle that the forms prepared 
by me have been selected. To illustrate what is meant by 
this, take, for instance, a chair; the back of a chair is con- 
structed so as to provide comfort and in the seat should be 
found strength ; the rounds connecting the legs are placed so 
as to give the completed object symmetry. In a well-con- 
structed chair the rounds on the front do not join the legs 
at the same level with the rounds on the side ; if they did the 
double joint would weaken the legs, and so in my chair-form 
I have placed the rounds as they would be m a well-con- 
structed chair. In the cutting and making of the toys this 
principle is forcefully presented and there is an opportunity 
to instruct the child in the reasons therefor. The fact that 
one part of an object is constructed in one way while another 
part is constructed in another, notwithstanding the fact that 
the functions of both parts are practically the same, will call 



attention to the fact that there is a difference and will neces- 
sarily suggest an inquiry as to why this difference should 
exist. In the explanation of this reason it should be bome 
in mind that there may be both an artistic and mechanical 
reason. 

5. As nearly as possible the various parts of these forms 
are relatively of the same size as in the real objects. Excep- 
tions are only made in those instances where the limitations 
of the material interfere. 

All the forms are designed proportionately to each other, 
so that a little doll, if adapted in size to these objects, can 
write her letter with perfect ease and comfort while sitting 
on one of the common chairs at the desk; and a five-year-old 
"child-doll" can easily descend from the small swing without 
being hurt. 

6. Many pieces of furniture and other objects about us 
carry unnecessary ballast, because they are unpractically 
constructed, and 'this is very often the reason they appear 
clumsy, unfinished and unsightly. I do not wish to imply that 
all things should be light and delicate; there are many instan- 
ces where heavy objects are most appropriate. 

To furnish^ a rocky mountain tavern requires different 
consideration than the decorating of a lady's parlor. No 
certain style shall here be preferred and pronounced to be 
the only acceptable one, but these toys are to emphasize the 
eminent value of simplicity and adequacy in construction. 
There must be a valid reason for the existence, size and color 
of each part in an object. All superfluity, all that is non- 
essential should be eliminated if an object is to be most prac- 
tically constructed. For what reason do chair-legs converge 
(grow thinner) at the end? At least three reasons may be 
given : First, because a superfluous amount of wood is of no 
constructive value ; second, because a ch-air is thereby made 
considerably lighter; third, because in consequence the chair 
has a better appearance. 

The educated eye suffers discomfort in beholding super- 
fluity just as nature abhors a vacuum. In nature there is 
nothing that is unpractical or purposeless. Carefully observe 
a plant and be amazed at the "thoughtfully planned" use- 
fulness of each individual part. Therefore, he who wishes 
to follow the example of nature must grow to be a master in 
eliminating the non-essential. He must be able to keep out 
of his work all that threatens to disturb the harmony of the 
whole. 



7- This introduces us to the art qualities of paper forms. 
The wide-spread opinion that an object is most beautiful when 
overladen with complicated ornaments must be denounced 
by the true artist. In the opinion of the artist only that has 
a right to exist which can "peacefully" adjust itself to the 
whole. In constructing an art product it is just as difficult 
to eliminate the non-essential as it is to apply those parts 
which are to build up the harmonious unit. While designing 
an object new ideas constantly spring up, all of which demand 
a strict control and proper selection. In planning these paper 
forms it is advisable to carefully select and apply only the 
artistically essential, so that each object may turn out to be 
a beautiful simple product of industrial art, neither crude on 
the one hand nor ostentatious on the other. Each decorative 
form which cannot reasonably be evolved out of the con- 
struction should be simply left off. 

8. In selecting the paper for these toys the quality and 
color offered more difficulties than one may imagine. A very 
beautiful dark-blue color had to be rejected because the 
oculist ascertained that the print on this paper could not be 
clearly distinguished and would consequently be injurious 
to the eyes of many children. A color too light had the dis- 
advantage of being easily soiled by finger marks. The paper 
finally chosen is neither too bright nor too dull and its thick-" 
ness is adapted to the strength of the average child. The 
designs, models and explanations are printed as clearly as 
possible. 

9. The correct designs, simple explanations and wide 
pasting-strips assist the children very much in their efforts 
at neat and exact execution. In printing only one or two 
designs on a sheet the rolling while carrying it is avoided. 



III. The VALUE OF PAPER CONSTRUCTION FOR 
THE CHILD. 

Besides the great pleasure of freely creating things — the 
life keenly lived — paper construction brings certain educa- 
tional opportunities to the child : 

I. The child may learn to mentally and actually plan 
out an object in sections on a piece of paper, then so group 
them that all join in one piece, and finally, by cutting, bend- 
ing and pasting, create a form. 



2. The child can learn to observe that every object is 
so built that it possesses a certain amount of resistance or 
latent strength. Not only are the various parts of an object 
so well joined that the whole is firmly united, but those places 
which are most exposed to wear and tear are particularly 
strengthened. Iron corners are nailed on to trunks for this 
reason. But since the usual methods of strengthening objects 
cannot always be employed in paper construction, owing to 
the limitations of the material, substitutes have to be invented. 
The child can therefore learn to discover new methods for 
strengthening objects and apply them in creating new paper 
forms. 

3. If once the elastic flexibility of the paper is clearly 
understood the child will make use of it in many forms. 

4. Whatever the child may construct, in every piece the 
practical and essential will be emphasized anew. Objects are 
made up of certain necessary parts and these parts must fit 
well together. If it is not so, a feeling of dissatisfaction will 
urge the child to make further experiments until the mistake 
is overcome. 

5. A taste for proportions can be cultivated in the child 
by the frequent practice of measuring and comparing with and 
without ruler, which he is obliged to resort to. 

6. Of very great importance is the early training in the 
elimination of all that is unnecessary and unpractical. When 
a child has made an object he should be able to state valid 
reasons for introducing the various parts of which it consists. 
In working out these paper forms opportunity should be given 
to observe that those objects which are most simply con- 
structed — devoid of non-essentials — are also the most service- 
able and best appearing ones. 

7. These paper forms exercise a silent art influence, and 
encourage children to so construct their own inventions that 
they do not appear inartistic or misshapen. 

8. In manual training one can in many cases give chil- 
dren the opportunity to select their own material, for instance, 
allowing them to choose the color and quality of paper for 
new designs. How shall taste and good judgment ever be 
cultivated if books, clothes, playthings, etc., are all selected 
by the parents without consulting the child as to his personal 
likes and dislikes. The development of good taste and good 
judgment cannot be commenced too early. 



9- Children can practice economy while planning new 
forms. They may learn to so place their own designs on paper 
that there is little waste, and then to make of this waste other 
small objects. 

ID. In most children there dwells a desire to keep their 
books and papers neat and clean, but much greater is this 
ambition when it comes to producing neat manual work. 

Paper construction stimulates a habitual desire for exact, 
neat and accurate execution. 

The above-named educational possibilities of construction 
are perhaps the most important, but they do not exhaust the 
subject. 



IV. DIRECTIONS FOR CONSTRUCTION. 
General Remarks. 

He, who wishes to construct an object, must have at the 
start a more or less perfect conception of whatever he intends 
to make. Perhaps it is best, if he can clearly see in his mind 
each part separately as well as the relation of each part to 
the whole. Yet, this clear foresight is to the beginner almost 
impossible. In working out these paper forms, for instance, 
the child learns first after a certain amount of practice how 
the parts of an object are combined. 

The flat diagram is to the uninitiated a puzzle. He cannot 
at once explain all before the forms are cut out and bent into 
shape. He may even need a certain amount of assistance. 
This does not mean, however, that each step be explained. 
If the work is made too easy for the child, it will have no 
more attraction for him. He does not want the answer imme- 
diately after you place the puzzle in his hands. In order to 
prevent children from making mistakes, adults all too often 
deprive them of their best opportunities for growth, by taking 
upon themselves the performance of the task. 

The school should not be a factory for producing perfect 
objects, but rather a place for the normal development of 
self-dependent individuals. Practicing the ability to solve 
problems stimulates the desire to overcome difficulties without 
help. 

The child that mechanically works out these printed paper 
forms according to accurate directions, dictated step by step 
will never derive the profit from them that the child does, 

10 



who, unassisted, gradually learn to compare the models with 
the drawing and before cutting out does such independent 
thinking that much or all is clear to him. 

But, on the other hand, one should not insist too strictly 
that children explain all from the printed sheet, as too 
much "schooling" will drive away the fun, the main purpose 
of these toys. It is much better if, before cutting out each new 
piece, the child is encouraged to discover, out of his own free will, 
more and more of that which is to be done. 

Should a child, however, occasionally wish to go ahead 
and make a thing rapidly with little forethought, even such a 
procedure is not so bad as we sometimes imagine. The rich 
experience derived from the making of mistakes is sometimes 
of very great importance in the development of a character. 
Some children will thereby be most easily led to see that it 
is a considerable advantage to be able to tell, by merely look- 
ing at the plan, how, through cutting, bending and pasting, 
the object gradually assumes its proper shape. 

When children are absolutely in need of help in paper 
construction, such questions may be put to them that the 
answers will be of service in approaching a solution. But if 
children can get- into the habit of asking themselves these 
questions, such a course is to be preferred. One may mention 
three ways of working out these paper-forms. 

(a) By very small children the parents do the thinking 
and perhaps also the working out. 

(b) Children who have not arrrived at a state of perfect 
independence are assisted by careful questions being put to 
them. 

(c) Children who are altogether independent reflect 
and think so long until they have personally solved the prob- 
lem. 

It is advisable to give a child at the most two sheets to 
work out in one day. 



I. Cutting. 

The cutting is done either with a pair of scissors or a 
knife. It is deplorable that some 'parents have a prejudice 
against these instruments. Partly, but not wholly, is this 
prejudice justified. Instead of developing in children a fear 
of these instruments it would be much better to invest a 



little time and trouble in teaching them how, with a certain 
amount of care and discretion, accidents can be avoided. Fear 
weakens, carefulness strengthens the character. 

In using dull-pointed scissors danger is altogether ex- 
cluded and one may purchase also practically harmless knives, 
which consist of short blades in long wooden handles. It is well 
if children do not sit too close together while making paper toys. 

Cut through all lines printed in solid black. Sometimes 
the little word "all" is overlooked and the child has com- 
menced to bend the paper when some solid lines are still 
untouched. Small short lines are most frequently overlooked. 
It is well to cut close to the line and so that the line is still 
left on the object, not on the waste. 

At first, the inner lines are cut, as the outer details of 
the object can be easily damaged while working on the inner 
sections. It is therefore best to commence with the latter. 
Inner sections that have solid lines on all sides are waste. 
If, however, an inner section is attached to the rest of the 
object by a dotted line it must not be injured. 

The mistake of cutting into an object without intention 
gradually becomes less frequent as by practice the pupil learns 
to control the hand. Damaged places may be repaired by a 
small plaster on the inner side where it does not meet the 
sight. 

Some places on certain sheets cannot be cut out with the 
scissors. This is the case particularly where the inner sec- 
tions are too narrow to admit the scissors. (In the book case 
€ach section of the front is used.) Such places must be cut 
out with a knife. A knife can be used for all cutting out, if 
preferred. After some practice one can do very accurate work 
with knife and ruler. If, however, the pupil learns to cut 
without the assistance of the ruler he will have the advan- 
tage of a still better training for hand and eye. The knife 
must, of course, be very sharp, else the paper will not be 
thoroughly cut and the edges will look ragged. In cutting 
with the knife it is well to lay a piece of heavy cardboard 
under the sheet. 



2. Tracing. 

Tracing is perhaps done best with a dull fruit knife, but 
there exist also small tracing blades, which can be inserted in 
the penholder. Care must be taken not to trace too deeply, 
as a light impression is quite sufificient. The tracing must 

12 



be directly over the line, else one surface will turn out too- 
large and the other too small, making a misfit all around. 
Since the wide-dotted lines must be traced on the back of 
the paper it is necessary to transfer them. This is done by 
making a pin hole at each end of the desired line and connect- 
ing these two points on the other side with a ruled line^ 
which then can be traced. 



3. Bending. 

Always bend the traced side out. If the bending is done 
towards the wrong side (tracing inside) the paper is likely 
to break. Bending is facilitated by laying the paper over a 
sharp edge like the rim of an open tin box. The whole shape 
must be bent before pasting begins. 



4. Pasting. 

Only the very best paste or glue is to be used ; as nothing- 
is more discouraging than paste that does not stick. Un-* 
fortunately most of the cheap mucilage put up in bottles is 
of inferior quality, which tests the patience of the children to 
the utmost. 

Paste is put on with a brush, a flat stick or a piece of 
waste paper. Care should be taken that not too much paste 
is put on as it will dry slowly and soil the work when it is 
squeezed out at the sides. It is best to scrape off superfluous 
paste before pressing the surfaces together. A surface ought 
to stick after counting forty and must be held until it does 
stick. Small paper clips may be used for this purpose. All 
places where two surfaces meet must be pasted in order to 
make the form as firm as possible. 



5. Inventing. 

A chief aim of all these paper toys is to stimulate the 
inventive genius in children. They should not only work 
out the printed forms, but make also original designs. Even 
a small deviation from the printed plans is of value, because 
it is while designing that the child first learns to realize more 
fully what is necessary to construct an object. In the printed 

13 



plan the most difficult part of the process is already accom- 
plished. 

If the young inventor will be content to design a larger 
boat than the one on sheet No. 3 for a start, he will find that 
it is not so easy as it seems. In a complicated object like 
the chair, however, the difficulties are still greater. If the 
inventor considers the chair as made up of those separate 
parts out of which it is constructed in the factory it will 
not help him in paper construction. Here he must think 
of objects as being constructed out of surfaces. 

As an architect designs fagade, side elevations and back 
view of a house, similarly must the paper-constructor proceed 
in his work. One way of going at it would be to sketch the 
back view of the chair on a piece of paper of appropriate size ; 
pin to the right and left of this piece sketches of the two side 
views, and onto these the front; finally attach a view from the 
top — the seat — and the primitive form is crudely constructed. 
Thereafter, a few pins can be taken out and the form, a41 
surfaces still hanging together, be spread onto a table. In 
this way can be ascertained how the various parts should 
be arranged on the desired plan. Then the waste paper be- 
tween the rounds, etc., can be cut out and the model may be 
pinned together several times more while making other im- 
provements. 

This crude model shows how, in the main, the construction 
is possible. Now a more accurate drawing according to scale 
is made with the addition of the necessary pasting strips. 
This accurate drawing is cut out and a small chair made of 
it, which this time has the advantage of being made out of 
one piece. On this little chair one usually finds the need of 
several more improvements, and after these have been made, 
a new and perfect design is drawn on good paper, which is 
afterwards transferred onto stifT paper. The perfect little 
chair made therefrom is final proof that the design is abso- 
lutely correct. 



Conclusion. 

A careful observer of children cannot fail to note how 
differently they are gifted for the various occupations with 
which they can be employed. That which is most fascinat- 
ing in children is perhaps their naive individuality, the sur- 
prises they daily bring to us through their manifold ways of 
expression. 

14 



That this vigorous originality gradually decreases from 
year to year after the school period has commenced, may 
be perhaps partly attributed to the fact that subjects 
like reading, writing and arithmetic do not on the whole 
interest children so deeply as the former free occupations. 

If the ability of a child is measured in school by means 
of marks and numbers, this does not necessarily indicate that 
he is either smart or dull in every respect. Often it happens, 
however, that a child which does not make good progress in 
school gets the reputation of being an all-around fool, and 
this is told him so often that at last he believes it himself 
and finally degenerates into one of the lowest type of men. 

This is unjust, for such a child has perhaps a latent 
gift for work which does not happen to be on the school- 
plan. A school curriculum can, of course, not be all inclusive, 
but it is absolutely certain that through manual training a 
larger number of children find opportunity to develop their 
innermost tendencies than through reading, writing and arith- 
metic. It has also been proven that progress in the last-named 
studies has been greatly enhanced through the revival of 
the real life that children have enjoyed wherever manual 
work has been introduced. 

Much has of late years been written and said about 
manual training, and intelligent schoolmen are everywhere 
busily engaged working out new studies that will be of vast 
importance to the coming generation. 

Paper construction as it is to-day is not yet at the top 
of perfection, but what we have is of considerable value and 
certainly a joy-bringing occupation, overflowing with wonder- 
ful possibilities. 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



014 083 220 % 




